'Mindshare' Is the Most Important B2B Metric You're Not Tracking

A critical battle is won or lost long before your sales team ever gets a call.

According to Gartner, buyers are now 70% of the way through their decision-making process before they formally engage with a sales representative. They are conducting their own research, having internal conversations, and forming opinions about potential solutions independently.

To stay competitive, marketers need to create awareness and shape buyer preference from the earliest stages of the purchasing journey, according to 6sense’s Head of Research and Thought Leadership, Kerry Cunningham (Demand Gen Report, 2024).

In this study the following statistics show how purchase decisions are made:

• 67%of buyers have a brand in mind before starting their search.

• 81% have a preferred vendor by their first contact.

• 94% buy from the first brand they thought of.

When features, functions, and pricing become nearly interchangeable, how does a customer choose?

They choose the brand they remember and trust.

At GROW, we often tell clients: “You can’t win market share if you’re not winning mindshare first.”

But the natural next question especially from CEOs and PE operating partners is: “How do we measure that?”

What is Mindshare?

Mindshare refers to how much mind-space your brand occupies in your ideal customer’s awareness—before they have a need. It’s built through repeated, relevant, and valuable exposure: via thought leadership, content, PR, social selling, and more.

When you win mindshare, the benefits are tangible: buyers seek you out, inbound interest increases, you’re invited earlier into buying cycles, and pricing pressure decreases. It’s about occupying the mental real estate of your ideal customer so that when they are ready to buy, your company is already on their shortlist.

While it may seem like a "soft" concept, mindshare is a powerful driver of hard business results.

When mindshare is high:

• Buyers seek you out (inbound increases)

• You’re invited earlier into buying cycles

• Pricing pressure decreases

• Sales velocity improves

In fact, Binet & Field (IPA Databank) found that brands who invest in long-term brand-building (mindshare) see 3x more market share growth than those only focused on short-term performance marketing.

Measuring Mindshare in 2025

While "mindshare" can sound like an intangible, vague concept, it can and should be tracked with a modern marketing scorecard.

This isn't just spreadsheet fodder to be buried in a report. It’s a C-level scorecard for your brand's most valuable asset.

Tracking these indicators provides a clear view of your brand's strength and its position in the market relative to your competition. The goal is not just to collect data for a spreadsheet, but to create a holistic view that tracks brand health alongside traditional performance metrics.

The most effective metrics to track include:

Use Case: B2B SaaS in PE Portfolio

We recently worked with a PE-backed B2B SaaS company that had solid tech, but low brand recognition.

We launched a 90-day “mindshare sprint” using GROW’s proprietary Marketing Attack Plan, blending:

• Executive LinkedIn visibility (thought leadership + engagement)

• Syndicated content in key industry pubs

• Sales enablement content tailored to pain points

• Share-of-voice tracking to benchmark brand mentions

Within 12 weeks:

• Branded search rose 38%

• Sales cycles shortened by 19%

• 1 in 3 new SQLs referenced “seeing us everywhere lately”

Winning mindshare has a direct and powerful impact on sales performance.

These numbers translate into tangible business outcomes: higher inbound interest from better-fit customers, decreased pricing pressure because trust is already established, and faster sales velocity.

This is proof that building your brand's presence is a direct investment in sales efficiency.

Why It Matters Now More Than Ever

Mindshare is not a soft metric but a hard-nosed business asset.

When all other factors are equal, the brand that has consistently provided value and built a presence in the customer's mind wins the deal.

By focusing on earning a permanent place in your customers' minds, you move beyond temporary tactics and build a foundation for sustainable growth.

"If you're not measuring mindshare, you're not managing it. And if you’re not managing it, your competitors will."

Is your marketing strategy just renting temporary attention through ads, or are you building a lasting asset in your customer's mind?

Ask us how our iCMOs turn mindshare into market share with measurable outcomes: https://www.growpowered.com/contact-us